Africa

2010

Radio journalist Ahmed Omar Hashi is a survivor, but he has paid dearly. He's been threatened and targeted for death. He's seen his colleagues and friends killed. Now, like other Somali journalists, Hashi struggles in exile and hopes one day he can resume his work. By Karen Phillips

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In “A Somali Journalist in Exile,” CPJ talks with Ahmed Omar Hashi, a former editor for the independent Mogadishu station Radio Shabelle. After three attempts were made on Hashi’s life, CPJ and local partners helped him relocate to Uganda. Hashi talks about the many challenges in his new life in exile and his hopes to resume his work. (5:00)

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In the reclusive Red
Sea nation of Eritrea, thefate
of 10 journalistswho disappeared in secret prisons following
a September 2001 government crackdown has been a virtual state secret—only occasionally
pierced by shreds of often unverifiable, secondhand information smuggled out of
the country by defectors or others fleeing into exile.

Somali journalists Hassan Ali Gesey and Abdihakim Jimale are
roommates these days, living in a tiny, graffiti-ridden room in Nairobi, Kenya.
Neither would have wanted to eke out an existence like this, but dire circumstances
brought them together—starting with the night three years ago that Gesey saved
Jimale’s life.

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New York, April 9, 2010—Al-Shabaab insurgents in Somalia have banned all BBC broadcasts from the areas they control and confiscated the corporation’s FM transmitters and satellite dishes. Local journalists told CPJ that Al-Shabaab issued a statement today announcing the immediate ban, claiming the BBC carried the “agenda of the crusaders” and “opposed an Islamic administration.”

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New York, April 9, 2010--The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes theAfrican National Congress (ANC) party's condemnation of the expulsion of BBC journalist Jonah Fisher from a press conference on Thursday. ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema referred to Fisher as a "bastard" after the reporter interrupted him.

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New York, April 6, 2010—Following Monday’s murder of freelance cameraman Patient Chebeya in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Committee to Protect Journalists called for a renewed commitment from the government to solidly investigate and prosecute those who kill journalists.

Armed men in military uniforms jumped Chebeya, at left, around 10 p.m. as his wife let him in his house in the volatile eastern city of Beni, according to local press freedom group Journaliste En Danger (JED).

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Dear Mr. Speaker: The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about the proposed amendment to the 1995 Ugandan Press and Journalist Act, which is expected to be presented before parliament soon. We believe the bill would severely hamper the operations of newspapers and damage the country’s press freedom credentials.

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On March 24, I received an e-mail from a close friend under the
intriguing subject “What...?” On opening the e-mail, I discovered my friend was
not impressed by two articles
in that morning’s newspapers
condemning the government’s recent proposal to amend the press law and
introduce new restrictions on the publication of newspapers.

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Didace
Namujimbo, a journalist for Radio Okapi,
was shot
dead on the night of November 21, 2008. Now, after repeated delays, a military
court in Bukavu,
capital of the province
of South Kivu in eastern
Democratic Republic of Congo, is putting on trial a dozen people charged in
connection with the murder.